Cohabitees

• The Law relating to Cohabitation
• Property
• Home
• Maintenance
• Children
• Death of one partner
• DIY Co-habitation Agreement
• Co-habitation Agreement preparation service
• Ownership of Property between Cohabitees Fact Sheet
• DIY Cohabitation Kit
• Application for an Order for Sale of Jointly owned Property

The Law relating to Cohabitation

There is no such thing in English Law as a ‘Common Law’ Wife (or Husband). The law treats cohabitees and those that live together as separate people with no automatic rights against each other if the relationship ends. Property in the name of one party will remain in that parties name unless very special circumstances exist.

Rights with regard to children are restricted. There is no automatic parental responsibility for a father who is not married to his child’s mother, and without this he will have few rights with regard to a child for whom he must pay maintenance.

The law as it stands therefore shows a number of important distinctions between those who cohabit and live together without getting married, and those who marry. Cohabitees mean any couple who live together and that may include same sex relationships.

Property

There is no legal right of cohabitees to a share of property belonging to a former partner on the breakup of cohabitation, no matter how long the relationship has lasted. If property is in his name, it belongs to him, and if it is in her name it belongs to her. In divorce, the Court have an unlimited right to vary property ownership. This does not exist between cohabitees. There are however exceptions where for the sake of fairness the Court can vary the ownership rights.

a. Where the property was jointly acquired, and there is evidence to show an intention that it be jointly owned.

b. Where a party directly contributed to the acquisition of the property so as to show an implied intention that it was joint property.

c. If there was an understanding between the parties, and the non-owning partner has acted to his or her detriment in reliance on this understanding. A usual example is payment of the mortgage by one party on a property in the other partners name.

Home

Unmarried couples when buying a home together should at that time give careful consideration as to how the property should be held, and how the sale proceeds should be divided on sale. The options are to hold the property as beneficial joint tenants or as tenants in common. The decision may be based upon intended contributions to the purchase of the house. The intention is best recorded in a cohabitation agreement.

Maintenance

There is no basic right of maintenance between cohabitees to maintain each other, either during or on the break up of a relationship. The position however is different with children, where a duty is imposed by law to maintain all biological children.

Children.

If the parents of a child are unmarried, then only the mother has any automatic rights in respect of the child. She alone will have parental responsibility for the child. However rights can be acquired by registering the father on the birth certificate. If this is not done, and where the mother agrees, parental responsibility can be established through the signing of a parental responsibility agreement. Where such can not be agreed, it is possible for the father to apply to the Court for a joint parental responsibility order, a contact order or a residence order.

Death of one partner

If one partner dies intestate [without making a Will], his or her property will pass to their relatives, and not automatically to their former partner. An exception would be property held as beneficial joint tenants. Rights to property can be established under the Family Provision Act.
Disputes over property between unmarried couples are messy, can be most acrimonious, and have every potential to be expensive. However there are a number of things which can be done whilst living together. Whilst not being particularly romantic, they are most sensible, and can lead not only to the avoidance of problems if the relationship ends, but an understanding during the relationship.

Make a Will. Each partner should make a Will. If a partner should die without making a Will, his or her property will pass under the intestacy rules, often to a relative, or even a spouse. A Will can always be amended or revoked.

Cohabitation Agreements

DIY Co-habitation Agreement
The law provides little protection for the rights of couples who live together outside of marriage. It will however enforce what has been agreed between them. It is therefore important that if future arguments are to be avoided to decide the 'terms' of a cohabitation and write them down in a cohabitation agreement. This need not be difficult or expensive
It is a simple record of what was agreed in respect of property, money, and claims against each other when it was decided to set up home together.
This cohabitation agreement sets out the practical arrangements which have been agreed when two persons decide to live together. By setting them out in writing it is shown that both intend to be bound in the future by what has been agreed now.

Making a cohabitation agreement will also make you think about the financial implications of living together and concentrate your mind on what should happen if things do not work out. It will also help avoid arguments and settle any dispute which arises.

Each cohabitation agreement is different but the agreements here can be easily adapted for all usual circumstances. Clauses dealt with include: • ownership of property of each partner at the start of the cohabitation • property which will be jointly owned • payment of household expenses • inheritance and Wills • resolving disputes • variations should you marry • arrangements should the cohabitation come to an end

That is the purpose of a cohabitation agreement. It will firstly direct the parties minds to the business of living in a relationship and then record financial matters (and indeed anything else) which has been agreed between them.
The DIY Cohabitation Agreement Pack provides all the information and examples needed to prepare an agreement and save what would almost certainly be very substantial legal costs. The pack can be purchased either through our Secure Trading secure server when you will receive a link to download your purchase immediately payment has been cleared or through Pay Pal when you will receive an email link to download your purchase in a maximum of 24 hours

Co-habitation Agreement preparation service

We can prepare the agreement for you. Complete our online questionnaire and our lawyers will then prepare your agreement from the information provided and contact you as necessary to discuss the clauses.The cost is £75.

This is how it works:


• Click the button below and complete the online questionnaire with the basic information our lawyers will require and make payment through our secure server.
• You will be assigned your own personal lawyer who will confirm his instructions and prepare a draft application from the information provided.
• Your lawyer will email a draft of the agreement to you for approval and arrange a telephone conference to discuss, make any amendments and advise you fully on the applicable law.
• Once the details are agreed we will complete your cohabitation agreement and send it to you ready for signature.

Ownership of Property between Cohabitees Fact Sheet

The Legal-Zone Ownership of Property between Cohabitees Fact sheet is a guide to the law which applies to ownership of a property when Cohabitees have shared the property and contributed jointly to its acquisition.

Problems may arise on the breakdown of the relationship where title to the home is vested solely in the name of one of the parties. The non-owning party may have no claim under property law but to deny an interest in a jointly acquired property can be most unfair.

This is a complex area of law but the principles applied by the Court to alleviate the harshness of property law are explained clearly and in sufficient depth to show whether a claim by a non-owner might be likely to succeed.

The Fact sheet includes a guide to all the relevant law including:

• The Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996
• Resulting Trusts
• Constructive Trusts
• Proprietary Estoppel
• The mechanism for resolving disputes about the existence and exercise of proprietary rights

It also includes a guide to the established cases.

The Legal-Zone Ownership of Property between Cohabitees Fact sheet costs £14.99 and is available for immediate download.

DIY Cohabitation Kit

A guide to the legal consequences of cohabitation and to how to avoid future disputes.

More and more people are living together. The relationship they have may be similar to marriage but in the eyes of the law it is very different. Should the relationship breakdown the position of the parties is entirely different from that had they been married. The Court will not have the power to vary interests in property as in a divorce settlement and it is therefore essential for the parties to properly set out the financial position that is intended.
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This Kit explains the legal position of cohabitees to each other and provides all that is necessary to protect the interests of parties who are intending to live together.

Included in the Kit are chapters on:

• The Legal Relationship of Cohabitees to each other
• Ownership of Property
• Maintenance
• Rights of Occupation of the Home
• Ownership of Household Content
• Rights Concerning Children
• Protection from Violence


The Kit contains a cohabitation agreement which can be downloaded and completed. Also included is a checklist of what might be included in a cohabitation agreement.

Finally the Kit contains a number of case studies which illustrate how a Court will deal with disputes between Cohabitees.

The price of the Cohabitation Kit is £19.99.

Application for an Order for Sale of Jointly owned Property

Circumstances often arise where two or more people hold property jointly (whether as joint tenants or tenants in common) and a joint owner no longer requires his or her share of the property and wishes to take the part of the equity to which there is an entitlement. If the other owner is unable or does not wish to purchase that interest (or if a price cannot be agreed) then the property must be sold. If the other co-owner will not cooperate in a sale then it will be necessry to apply to the court who will order that the property be sold and give any necessary directions concerning the sale.

We can help you apply for an Order for Sale of Jointly owned Property in 2 ways:

Firstly we can prepare the application for you. Complete our online questionnaire and our lawyers will then prepare your application from the information provided and contact you as necessary to discuss your case.The application will then be sent to you for approval and for signature before issue at court. We remain on hand to assist further if required.The cost is £125.

This is how it works:


• Complete our straight forward questionnaire which will provide the basic information we need to be able to draft the application.
• Submit the completed questionnaire to our lawyers and make payment using either our secure server or Paypal.
• Our lawyers will prepare the application and contact you either by telephone or email for any further information needed or to discuss your application.
• Once your lawyer is satisfied with the application it will be sent to you either by post or email to approve and sign.
• The application can then be lodged with the court. We provide a guide to how the court will deal with the application and are always available by telephone or e-mail should you require further help.

Alternatively we have a pack available to help and guide you in completing and making the application yourself.

The DIY Application for an Order for sale Pack provides all the information and documents which are needed to make an application yourself and save what would almost certainly be very substantial legal costs. The pack can be purchased either through our Secure Trading secure server when you will receive a link to download your purchase immediately payment has been cleared or through Pay Pal when you will receive an email link to download your purchase in a maximum of 24 hours

The pack includes:-

• Link to the necessary prescribed application form.
• An example of a completed application with supporting statement.
• All necessary help and guidance.

The price of the package is £14.99

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